Taglines: Somewhpere inside all of us is the power to change the world.
Matilda Wormwood is a genius, but her parents, Harry and Zinnia, ignore and mistreat her. At the age of 4, she discovers the local library and walks there every day to read while her father is at work, her mother is playing bingo, and her older brother, Michael, is at school.
At age six-and-a-half, Matilda begins to lose patience with her parents, expressing a desire to go to school. In retaliation for her father constantly berating her, she adds hydrogen peroxide to his hair tonic, turning his hair an unhealthy blonde. He takes his children to his workshop, where he reveals that the cars he sells are faulty.
Matilda accuses him of being dishonest and he belittles her, so she responds by putting super glue on his hat, forcing Zinnia to cut it off his head. She reads a borrowed library copy of Moby-Dick, which Harry rips up while her family is watching television. When he forces her to watch with them, she becomes increasingly angry and causes the television set to suddenly explode.
Miss Trunchbull is the tyrannical principal of a rundown elementary school, Crunchem Hall. Harry enrolls Matilda there, where she befriends several children and learns of Trunchbull’s violent nature and overtly harsh punishments of the students. Matilda’s teacher, Jennifer Honey, is a kind woman who adores her class and takes an immediate liking to Matilda.
She requests to Trunchbull that Matilda be moved up to a higher class, but Trunchbull refuses. That night, Miss Honey pays the Wormwoods a visit to encourage them to spend more time with Matilda, but they snub her. Meanwhile, Matilda discovers that her family is under surveillance by FBI agents Bob and Bill due to her father’s illegal dealings, but her parents refuse to believe her, as Zinnia thinks they are speedboat salesmen.
Trunchbull goes to Miss Honey’s class for a weekly “checkup” to belittle the students. As a prank, Lavender, one of Matilda’s friends, places a newt in Trunchbull’s water jug to frighten her. Upon discovery of the newt, Trunchbull accuses Matilda, whose anger at the injustice leads her to telekinetically tip the glass over, splashing water and the newt on Trunchbull. Afterward, Miss Honey invites Matilda to her house for tea.
On the way, they pass Trunchbull’s house, and Miss Honey reveals a secret of hers: When she was two, her mother died, so her father, Magnus, invited his stepsister-in-law, Trunchbull, to live with them and look after her. However, Trunchbull regularly abused her. When Miss Honey was five, her father died of an alleged suicide. Eventually, she moved into a small cottage. Matilda and she sneak into Trunchbull’s house while she is out to obtain some of Miss Honey’s belongings, but Trunchbull’s unexpected return leads to a cat-and-mouse chase, with them only barely escaping without revealing themselves.
Matilda is a 1996 American children’s fantasy comedy film directed by Danny DeVito, who also produced with Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, and Lucy Dahl. It was written by Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord, based on Roald Dahl’s novel of the same name. Mara Wilson, DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, and Pam Ferris star. The film is about a young genius named Matilda, who uses telekinesis to deal with her parents, who do not value education, and Agatha Trunchbull, the oppressive principal of Crunchem Hall Elementary School.
Matilda (1996)
Directed by: Danny DeVito
Starring: Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, Pam Ferris, Mara Wilson, Embeth Davidtz, Paul Reubens, Tracey Walter, Sara Magdalin, Gregory R. Goliath
Screenplay by: Nicholas Kazan, Robin Swicord
Production Design by: Bill Brzeski
Cinematography by: Stefan Czapsky
Film Editing by: Lynzee Klingman, Brent White
Costume Design by: Jane Ruhm
Set Decoration by: Jennifer Polito
Art Direction by: Philip Toolin
Music by: David Newman
MPAA Rating: PG for elements of exaggeRated meanness and ridicule, and for some mild language.
Distributed by: TriStar Pictures
Release Date: August 2, 1996
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